Match Game

Match Game
CBS

September 5, 1980

Game Show
DVD
B-

Richard Paul might be the least familiar panelist this episode (well, maybe tied with Braverman), but he was at the time recognizable for Carter Country among other things, and he would guest on M*A*S*H a couple months after this; he often played police, ministers, and other figures of authority, including Jerry Falwell in a TV-movie.  I'm actually more surprised to see Jamie Lee Curtis back.  The episode is also notable for Gene breaking down a wall.  (The man seems to have had anger issues, or at least hostility towards the set.)

Match Game

Foster Brooks fits right into the tipsy action.

Match Game
CBS
August 26, 1979
Game Show
DVD
B-

This is another oddball episode, with "the man in the box" out of the box when it's time for the Super Match, and then an audience member coming up with the definitive answer, "Wella Balsam," causing all the celebs to momentarily walk out.

Match Game PM

That says "Truck."

Match Game PM
February 17, 1979
CBS
Game Show
DVD
B-

I won't swear to it, but I think this is one of the episodes I saw taped, since I remember being there when Gene defended Arte Johnson's answer of "Inter-" for "Blank Course."  I was ten going on eleven, but I knew this was something naughty.  The episode is also notable for its unique line-up: besides Brett, Charles, and Arte, there are Kukla & Ollie (as a team), Eva Gabor, and Fannie Flagg.  By this point, I believe Dawson was doing Family Feud but I don't know if he'd left the daytime version of MG yet.  In any case, we are in the "star wheel" era.  And there will be a lot more '79 episodes down the road.

Match Game '77

Match Game '77
CBS
February 5, 1977
Game Show
DVD
B

This has one of the classic moments of the show, when the lower tier, with the help of a few props, imitates the upper tier.  Richard and Fannie spar and tease affectionately, like Brett and Charles, with additional mannerisms, like Brett's drinking and Charles's smoking.  The real surprise here is Jo Ann's twinkly-eyed, grinning version of Dick G.  Brett isn't the only one who enjoys this all thoroughly.

Match Game '77

A calmer moment

Match Game '77
CBS
February 5, 1977
Game Show
DVD
B-

In which the men trade neckware, Preparation H is a winning match, and Gene attacks a camera.  Also memorable for an early example of the face mash-up thing.  Note that both this and the succeeding episode supposedly aired on a Saturday (according to the DVD packaging), which seems unlikely.  From what I recall as a studio audience member in the later '70s through mid '80s, a week's worth of a game show would be done in one day, generally a weekday, and they would all air on weekdays.

Match Game '74

Same week, calmer episode

Match Game '74
CBS
February 15, 1974
Game Show
DVD
B


After the uncertainty of '73, Match Game seems to have found itself in '74, if this one episode is any indication.  Not only are Brett and Charles sitting next to each other in the upper tier, but the always delightful Fannie Flagg (then 29) is next to Richard.  And when a contestant answers, "Boobs," things get a little crazy.  Brett and perhaps others have clearly had a liquid lunch (as Gene acknowledges).  Definitely a relic of another time, as I can't see Robert or Wayne Newton now being supported over Fig.  Note that Richard points out that he's the only one who doesn't walk out, and Charles says that Richard won't stop scheming for his own show.  Such lines aren't as bitter as they'd become.